Surface coating

Surface coating, any mixture of film-forming materials plus pigments, solvents, and other additives, which, when applied to a surface and cured or dried, yields a thin film that is functional and often decorative. Surface coatings include paints, drying oils and varnishes, synthetic clear coatings, and other products whose primary function is to protect the surface of an object from the environment. These products can also enhance the aesthetic appeal of an object by accentuating its surface features or even by concealing them from view.

Most surface coatings employed in industry and by consumers are based on synthetic polymers—that is, industrially produced substances composed of extremely large, often interconnected molecules that form tough, flexible, adhesivefilms when applied to surfaces. The other component materials of surface coatings are pigments, which provide colour, opacity, gloss, and other properties; solvents or carrier liquids, which provide a liquid medium for applying the film-forming ingredients; and additives, which provide a number of special properties. This article reviews the composition and film-forming properties of polymer-based surface coatings, beginning with the polymer ingredients and continuing through the pigments, liquids, and additives. The emphasis is on paints (by far the most common type of coating), though occasional reference is made to other types of coatings such as drying oils and varnishes. For a fuller understanding of polymeric compounds, which form the basis of surface coatings, the reader is advised to begin with the article industrial polymers, chemistry of. For an overview of the position of surface coatings within the broader field of industrial polymers, see Industrial Polymers: Outline of Coverage.

Polymers for surface coatings

Polymer-based surface coatings can be considered to be two-phase composite materials consisting of pigment particles and other additives dispersed in a continuous matrix of polymer. Polymers provide the coating film its capacity to adhere to the substrate, most of its chemical resistance, and flexibility. In addition, the continuity of the film, much of its durability in the presence of environmental stresses, its gloss properties, most of its mechanical and thermal properties, and most of any chemical reactivity that the film will exhibit are dependent on polymers as well.

The key properties of the coating polymer are molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, glass transition temperature (Tg), and solubility. Also important are the reactive molecular groups making up the polymer and the kinetics and mechanism by which the polymer is formed—that is, whether it is formed by step-growth polymerization or chain-growth polymerization. (These two polymerization reactions are described in detail in the article industrial polymers, chemistry of). Another key attribute of the polymer is its structure. Polymers can have linear, branched, or network architectures (see Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C of industrial polymers, chemistry of). The latter type of structure, consisting of polymer chains bonded covalently at several sites to form a three-dimensionally cross-linked network, is often formed in the coating film during its curing.

When used in nonreactive form, chain-growth polymers are usually thermoplastic, high-molecular-weight materials. In some cases, however, carboxylic acid, alcohol, epoxy, amine, amino, and other reactive groups can be incorporated into chain-growth polymers. With such reactive functionality on the polymer chain, these materials can be used in low-molecular-weight form as coreactants in cross-linking systems.

For coatings use, one specific chain-growth polymerization method is utilized extensively—the latex, or emulsion, process. In its simplest form (as shown in Figure 1), the emulsion process involves stabilizing large droplets of a monomer (or monomers) in water using a soap as a surface-acting agent, or surfactant. A water-soluble free-radical initiator is added, forming the latex particles by polymerization within small aggregates, called micelles, that are formed by the surfactant. Because latex coatings are applied as aqueous dispersions of polymer, their use is largely solvent-free, and they are very attractive for retail because they can be cleaned up with soap and water, are very easy to apply, and are durable. Latex polymers form films by particle-particle coalescence processes, discussed below.

Polymer film-forming processes

Upon application by spraying, brushing, or various industrial processes, surface coatings undergo what is known as film formation. In most film-formation processes, a liquid coating of relatively low viscosity is applied to a solid substrate and is cured to a solid, high-molecular-weight, polymer-based adherent film possessing the properties desired by the user. For most common applications, this film has a thickness ranging from 0.5 to 500 micrometres (0.0005 to 0.5 millimetre, or 0.00002 to 0.02 inch).

Coatings before the 1960s were often liquids of low solids content, from which considerable organic solvent was emitted into the atmosphere during film formation. Environmental and economic pressures have forced a reduction of solvent levels in coatings and have required coatings designers to reconsider and improve film-formation processes. As a result, there are now three major types of film processes: evaporation of solvent or carrier liquid; cross-linking of low-molecular-weight, low-viscosity polymer precursors; and coalescence of small particles. For a specific coating, the overall film-formation process actually may be a mixture of these three.

Cross-linking film formation

Some of the highest-performance coatings films are based totally on the reacting of polymer precursors to build up a three-dimensionally cross-linked network. This is at once both a very old and a very new technology. During the Middle Agesdrying oils were used without solvent to formulate a paint that formed films totally by oxidative cross-linking. Drying oils are natural products such as linseed oil or tung oil that contain at least 50 percent unsaturated fatty acid triglycerides. When they react with oxygen in the air, these oils cross-link to form network polymers that have decorative and protective properties. Drying oils modified with soluble natural resins such as tree gum and rosin and naturally derived solvents such as turpentine are known as varnishes. When cast and allowed to dry (more accurately, harden) on various substrates, varnishes form films by evaporation of the solvent and by the cross-linking reactions of the unsaturated fatty acids in the oils. The cross-linking reactions are quite complex, but they essentially involve the addition of atmospheric oxygen to the fatty acids, leading to the formation of hydroperoxide derivatives of the fatty acids. These hydroperoxides decompose, especially in the presence of driers such as white lead or cobalt naphthenate, to form free radicals, which then cross-link with the remaining unsaturated fatty acid.

New cross-linking technologies are based on two-component 100-percent-solids reactive systems that are mixed just prior to or during application and form the final polymer coating by rapid cross-linking. An example is the reaction of isocyanate-containing compounds with alcohols to form a polyurethane. In many cases, solvents are used to control viscosity, which can increase considerably as rapid polymerization proceeds. Furthermore, a catalyst is often required to help the reaction reach completion within the time and temperature requirements of the specific application.

Evaporation-based film formation

In this mode of film formation, the molecular weight and the properties of the polymer to be used in a coating are fully developed before being dissolved in a solvent; pigments and additives are then added to develop the fully formulated coating. The liquid coating is applied to a substrate, and the film forms solely by solvent evaporation, which leaves behind a solid coating.

Evaporation-based film formation is based on low solids content and large amounts of organic solvents. It is one of the fastest and simplest methods of film formation and was the basis of the nitrocellulose lacquers used in automotive production lines from the 1920s to the 1950s; it is still the mode of film formation of many spray paints. But it is a mode of film formation that, by itself, releases large quantities of solvent into the atmosphere. For this reason the use of lacquers (as coatings that form films solely by solvent evaporation are often called) has become severely limited by environmental legislation.

Coalescence-based film formation

If small polymer particles of 0.05 to 1.0 micrometre in size are formed as a dispersion in water or organic solvent and if the polymer is above its glass transition temperature (Tg) and is rubbery in nature, then a clear polymer film may form after the dispersion is applied to a substrate. The polymer particles suspended in the water flow together, or coalesce, to form a film because of surface-mediated forces. If the polymer is below its Tg and is therefore in a rigid, glassy state, a small amount of coalescent (a solvent that will plasticize the polymer and lower its effective Tg) is added to the system to assist film formation. This coalescent later evaporates, leaving the solid polymer film.

Coalescence-based film formation takes place mainly with latex polymers, but it also occurs with systems in which the polymer particles are dispersed in an organic solvent. However, limitations on the use of organic solvents has made water the predominant carrier solvent.

Another mode of film formation closely related to water-based coalescence is the melting and fusing of solid paint particles such as occurs in what is known as “powder coating,” a process in which an object is coated by a spray or fluidized bed of pigmented polymer particles and the particles are fused by heating to form a continuous film. Other reactions may occur during the melting and fusing processes, but the predominant film-formation reaction is the fusing, or coalescence, of the particles.

Pigments

Pigments are insoluble particulate materials that provide colour, opacity, gloss control, rheological control, and certain functions such as corrosion inhibition or magnetic moment. They also reduce the cost of coatings by acting as a volume filler. Pigments are used as fine particles ranging in size from 0.01 to 100 micrometres. Composition ranges from carbon black to sand.

Pigments that contribute light-scattering properties to coatings are generally known as white, or hiding, pigments. They act by scattering all wavelengths of light, owing to their relatively high refractive index, so that they are perceived as white by the human eye. They are known as hiding pigments because the scattering of light reduces the probability that light will penetrate through a pigmented film to the substrate. A paint film of sufficient thickness and concentration of light-scattering pigment is truly opaque, hiding the substrate. The whiteness and opacity contributed by this class of pigments make them among the most extensively used pigments for coatings.

The most widely used white pigment is the crystal form of titanium dioxide (TiO2) known as rutile. Rutile has the highest index of refraction (2.76) of any material that can be manufactured in pigment form at a reasonable cost, making it the most efficient white pigment available. Another crystal form of TiO2, anatase, is sometimes used in coatings, but its lower index of refraction (2.55) makes it a less optically efficient pigment. Furthermore, surface-treated TiO2 in its rutile form yields coatings that are more durable to exterior exposure than are equivalent anatase pigments. TiO2 pigments are used in very high volume worldwide, especially in the so-called trade sales market, which includes retail, architectural, and contractor markets. In these applications, light, pastel, and white coatings predominate—thus the demand for TiO2.

Other white pigments are zinc oxide (ZnO), zinc sulfide (ZnS), and lithopone, a mixture of barium sulfate (BaSO4) and ZnS. The earliest commercial white pigment was “white lead,” basic lead carbonate (2PbCO3 · Pb[OH]2), which was widely used until about 1925–30. Because of this compound’s solubility in water, it is a toxic hazard, and its use in coatings has been restricted since the 1960s. Its commercial use actually stopped much earlier; because of its low index of refraction (1.94), white lead had been replaced by titanium dioxide, which is more than eight times as efficient in hiding power. Nevertheless, the presence of old, peeling paint containing white lead pigment continues to be a health hazard in older buildings that are poorly maintained.

Colour pigments

There are a large number of colour pigments, both organic and inorganic, that allow paint users to create films of almost all the colours in the visible spectrum. Colour pigments act by absorbing certain wavelengths of visible light and transmitting or scattering the other wavelengths. Some commonly used colour pigments are copper phthalocyanine-based greens and blues, quinacridone red, iron oxide red, iron oxide yellow, dirarylide yellow, and perinone orange.

Filler, or extender, pigments

Extensive use is made of pigments to occupy volume in coatings, enhancing their mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties as well as reducing their cost. Filler pigments are differentiated from other pigments in that they usually have little or no effect on the coatings’ optical properties other than gloss. They are most often inorganic materials that are naturally occurring or can be manufactured and put into pigmentary form at low cost. Examples of the materials used as filler pigments are talcs, calcium carbonate (both manufactured and in its natural form, limestone), silicas, special sands for texture paints, micas, clays such as kaolin, and barytes (the natural form of barium sulfate). The highest volume of filler pigments is employed in trade sales coatings for cost and property control and in industrial primer coatings for control of physical properties.

Specialty, functional, and other pigments

This catchall class includes pigments that are very important but are used in relatively low volumes. Included are those specific materials which give unique optical properties to coatings, such as aluminum flake pigments for metallic automotive coatings, pearlescent pigments, fluorescent pigments, and other metallic pigments. Functional pigments are those which supply specialty chemical functions to a coating, including zinc oxide for mildew control, zinc chromate (ZnCrO4) for corrosion control in primers, antimony oxide (Sb2O3) for fire-retardant coatings, and some compounds such as copper oxide (CuO) for barnacle control. Magnetic pigments, such as acicular iron oxide and chromium oxide pigments, are used in magnetic audio and video tapes for information storage.

Solvents and carrier liquids

Since most polymer-based coatings are prepared and applied in liquid form, the solvents or carrier liquids are among the most important raw materials used in the coatings. In coatings classified as solvent-based, organic solvents are employed to dissolve the polymers and oligomers that will form the final cured coating. In addition, many of the polymers used in coatings have to be synthesized in organic solvents. In these systems, the solubility of the polymer in the solvent is necessary for the coating to be properly manufactured and applied, and here the solvent strength as well as the polymer solubility are key parameters. Other key properties of organic solvents are boiling point, relative evaporation rate, reactivity, and toxicity. Commonly used organic solvents include hexane and other aliphatic compounds (that is, compounds with chainlike molecules); toluene, xylene, and other aromatic compounds (compounds with ring-shaped molecules); mineral spirits; methyl ethyl ketone; n-butyl acetate; t-butyl alcohol; and ethylene glycol. Mixtures of solvents are often used for control of solvency and evaporation.

Since the 1960s the use of organic solvents in polymer-based coatings has come under ever-increasing restriction owing to concern over air pollution. These low-molecular-weight substances, known collectively as volatile organic compounds (VOC), are released into the atmosphere upon application and curing of the coating. At low elevations they contribute to the generation of ozone, which is a major component of air pollution in urban areas. Therefore, cities such as Los Angeles that have severe air pollution problems have very strict controls on the use of solvents in coatings. Volatile organics now usually constitute less than 20 percent by volume of the product. Newer coating systems that are based on organic solvents but are compliant with pollution-control regulations are identified as high-solids coatings because of the relatively small fraction of solvent that they contain.

Water is employed as a carrier liquid for latex coatings and is used as a partial solvent for so-called water-reducible coatings. By itself, water presents no pollution hazard, but organic cosolvents are often used with water to provide the proper solubility to coating polymers, and these cosolvents can become VOC hazards.

Specialty additives

The rest of the materials present in coatings are used in weight or volume percentages of 1 percent or less and are therefore known as specialty additives. Though these additives may not be significant by composition percentage, they are very significant to the performance and use of coatings.

Rheological-control additives

The rheological properties of coatings (that is, their ability to flow) are of prime importance in their preparation, storage, and application, and in fluids such as coatings the key factor in rheology is the viscosity of the fluid. In some cases the viscous properties of the combination of the polymer, pigments, and solvent is sufficient to provide the correct viscosity for the coating. In other cases, however, specialty additives must be employed to achieve precise control of viscosity. These materials are often known as thickeners, and, as their name suggests, they are used to increase the viscosity of, or thicken, a coating when added in small amounts. Treated attapulgite clays, fine-particle-size silica aerogel-type pigments, and ultrahigh-molecular-weight polymers are used as thickeners in nonaqueous coatings, while modified cellulosic polymers, carrageenan (a natural polymer from seaweed), high-molecular-weight water-soluble polymers (e.g., polyacrylic acid), and the so-called associative thickeners are employed in aqueous systems. Polymers used as thickeners function by dissolving in and raising the viscosity of the solvent or carrier liquid portion of the coating. Pigmentary materials that are used specifically to raise viscosity act by forming interacting, connected networks or chains of particles in the solvent or carrier fluid. Another type of thickener, the associative thickeners, are relatively low-molecular-weight polymers that form networks in mainly aqueous systems based on their surfactant-like nature. These materials have enabled latex coatings for the retail market to provide flow and leveling during application in a manner heretofore available only in solvent-based coatings.

Catalysts and driers

Another key component of coatings used at low concentrations are the catalysts and driers that help to accelerate film-formation reactions. The earliest catalysts for curing were discovered by accident, when it was determined that the presence of lead oxide pigments such as red lead caused oil-based coatings to cure more rapidly and thoroughly than in their absence. The reactive species that causes this reaction is the Pb2+ ion, which forms organic salts with the fatty acid components of the drying oil. The lead–fatty-acid salt catalyzes the decomposition of organic hydroperoxides formed by the interaction of oxygen from the air with the unsaturated fatty acids in the drying oils. In turn, the free-radical decomposition products of the hydroperoxides cause the chain reactions known as oil drying. Lead-based pigments and driers are now unavailable because of their toxicity, but other organometallic driers, such as cobalt and zirconium naphthenate, are commonly used in alkyd and oil-based coatings.

Most cross-linking reactions, such as polyol-polyisocyanate reactions that take place during the formation of polyurethane coatings, are also catalyzed. In this reaction class, dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL) is often used as a reaction catalyst to accelerate the urethane reaction. Other cross-linking reactions have specific catalysts that provide sufficient reaction acceleration to allow film formation in a reasonable amount of time after application.

Wetting agents

In both the production and the application of coatings, the wetting of solid surfaces by the fluid phase is necessary. Chemicals that alter the surface properties of the coating fluid and reduce its surface tension are known as wetting agents. (In actuality, these materials are very similar to those used in dishwashing liquids, hand soaps, and shampoos and are identified under the general heading of surfactants.) Wetting agents help the fluid phase to wet pigment particles during the pigment-dispersion process (see below), and they also help to reduce the surface tension of the coating so that it properly wets the substrate upon application.

Dispersing agents

In order to provide optimal performance, pigment particles must act independently of each other in the coating film and thus must remain well dispersed throughout manufacture, storage, application, and film formation. Unfortunately, colloidal dispersions such as the pigment dispersions in liquid coatings are inherently unstable, and they must be stabilized against the flocculation that inevitably occurs in unstabilized systems. To this end, dispersing agents, together with wetting agents, are added to coating fluids during a pigment-dispersion process in coatings manufacture. Dispersing agents, also known as dispersants, are usually fairly low-molecular-weight materials that strongly adsorb onto pigment particles and form a repulsive barrier to the positive forces of interaction that exist between all particulate materials. In many solvent-based coatings a portion of the film-forming polymer may provide this function, but in aqueous systems (especially latex coatings) separate dispersants are usually added.

Defoamers

One problem with specialty additives is that they often have a surfactant nature and consequently stabilize foam in the liquid coating. Portions of the coating polymer also have a surfactant nature, and they, too, contribute to foam stability. Foam often causes problems during manufacture and packaging, and during application it often causes film defects such as bubbles and subsequent thin spots. In order to counteract this problem, defoamers—materials that destabilize or break foams—are often added to coatings. Defoamer activity is not yet completely understood, but the agents seem to act by destabilizing the surface films of bubbles or by spontaneously spreading on the surface of these films as they form and breaking the bubbles. Defoamers are often based on silicone oils with fine silica particles added as a carrier for the silicone.

Fungicides, bactericides, and other specialty additives

In order to stabilize aqueous latex coatings for long-term storage, bactericides are often added. Similarly, latex coatings for exterior architectural use often contain fungicides that help to prevent the formation of mildew on exterior surfaces. Also, most water-based coatings require pH-control agents. When hard water is used in the manufacture of coatings, sequestrants (additives that prevent precipitation reactions) such as tetrapotassium pyrophosphate are utilized to help stabilize the coating. For latex coatings that are stored in garages in cold climates, additives such as ethylene glycol and propyleneglycol, the major ingredients in automobileantifreeze, are used to provide freeze-thaw stability.

Properties of organic coatings

Optical properties

One of the primary sets of properties of coatings is the optical properties. The major optical properties of coatings are opacity, the ability to hide a substrate; colour, the ability to reflect and absorb visible light of specific wavelengths; and gloss, the ability to act like a mirror in the direct reflection of light. These three optical properties are key features of topcoats, and they are carefully controlled by coatings manufacturers because of the sensitivity of the human eye to optical performance. In automobile paints colour and gloss are the predominant properties required by consumers, while for house paints opacity and colour are the primary focus of users.

Optical properties are among the best-characterized and best-controlled features of coatings. Almost every large store that sells paints directly to consumers features a computer-controlled colour-measurement or colour-matching system.

Thermomechanical properties and adhesion

The manner in which a coating responds to mechanical and thermal stress is an important part of coating film behaviour. The characteristic properties often considered in this area are hardness, elastic modulus, glass transition temperature, toughness, and abrasion resistance. Adhesion to substrates is a property specific to organic coatings that often receives detailed attention. There are many empirical tests for adhesion, such as peel tests and scribe tests, but the mechanisms of adhesion are not well understood or characterized.

Chemical- and corrosion-resistance properties

Many substrates, such as metals and composites, have unique mechanical properties, but they have no inherent chemical or corrosion resistance and therefore must have protective coatings to maintain their performance in environments that contain chemicals or induce corrosion. Bridges, aircraft, pipelines, washing machines, cars, and many other items depend on coatings to provide protection against the environment. For example, coatings are expected to help protect automobiles from corrosion and aggressive chemicals for 10 years; for refrigerators and dishwashers the expected lifetime is even longer. This protection is a key to the sales and performance of many items.

Exterior durability

Exterior durability—that is, the durability of protection from exterior exposure provided to substrates—is usually considered to be a special performance property of coatings. Durability includes many of the aspects of chemical and corrosion protection mentioned above, but it is most commonly thought to consist mainly of resistance to and protection from solar radiation. Many natural polymeric substrates, such as wood, and many synthetic polymers are susceptible to damage and degradation by continued exposure to sunlight. Degradation occurs because radiation in the near-ultraviolet and blue end of the visible spectrum contains sufficient energy to break chemical bonds within polymers of many types. As radiation-induced degradation occurs, the ability of a coating to provide chemical and corrosion protection also degrades, and this degradation can include chalking of the coating as well as coating delamination. Coatings designed for use on the exterior surfaces of cars, road signs, houses, aircraft, and commercial buildings are especially at risk of degradation induced by sunlight. In all these cases the coatings must contain internal protection against solar radiation. Light absorption and scattering by pigments, plus the use of ultraviolet absorbers and free-radical quenchers (very similar to the protective effects designed into sunscreens in lotions), help to provide this protection.